...John Bircher? By way of ScienceBlogling Ed Brayton, I came across this Salon article describing Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin's claim that she is a young earth creationist (or, at the very least, believes that human and dinosaurs lived at the same time, which is fucking stupid enough). But it gets even more insane. From Dave Neiwert, we learn that she very well might be a John Bircher:
What's striking, as Michael points out, is the article in front of her: It's a piece about the "Con Con Call" -- one of those hysterical non-issues that conspiracy theorists of the far right in 1995 were shrieking about, involving an attempt by a handful of governors to organize a convention aimed at fighting what they saw as states' subordinate status. (Yes, the shrieking shut it down.)
One of the organizers of that particular torch-bearing mob was the John Birch Society. And sure enough, the article that Palin is proudly displaying in this portrait is a copy of the March 1995 edition of New American, the house organ of the Birch Society.
The article in question was written by Don Fotheringham. (It's no longer in the NA's archives, but you can read the text of it at this site.)
The Birchers are best known for their ardent McCarthyism and their long career in promoting cockamamie conspiracy theories about supposed Communist infiltration of government -- not just in the '50s and '60s, but well into the late '80s, until the fall of the Soviet Union. At that point, they simply picked up the same act and transferred it to promoting similar theories about the "New World Order" under Bill Clinton in the 1990s. (Chip Berlet has one of the best disquisitions on the Birch Society's long career.)
These same theories were the raison d'etre of the militia movement -- and indeed, the Birch Society ardently promoted the militias and related "Patriot" activity. I used to see their material on sale at militia gatherings regularly.
So it's probably not a coincidence that Sarah Palin was proudly reading Bircher magazines at the same time she and her husband were attending Alaskan Independence Party gatherings and making friends with its leaders, and the same year her husband signed up as a member. Because the AIP, as we've detailed, has a long history of being part of this same "Patriot" movement contingent.
Most people, even Republicans, wouldn't be caught with John Bircher literature on their desks (or at least, would be smarter to be in a picture with it).
Palin should have never been allowed to be mayor, let alone have a chance of being a 72 year old heartbeat away from the presidency. I just hope the old adage of God favoring children, fools, and the U.S.A. still holds....
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What about Thomas Jefferson's adage - "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever."?
Evangelicals tell me about satanic owl worship and the reptialian aliens running the world ie the Illuminati. Lets keep electing these people.
McCain is keeping her in a bubble for a reason. Imagine the stuff she'd be freudian slipping if the press were given free reign with her?
When I worked in the factory, I used to argue about evolutionwith a local leader of the John Birch Society. They think evolutionists are worse than anti-God--they think scientists are out to overturn capitalism and destroy the American Way.
The Chad Mitchell Trio did a nice version of this.
http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiJONBIRCH.html
She's a far-right-wing racist woman-hating jesus-loving deranged fucking wackaloon asshole who hates America and wants to completely destroy everything that normal decent Americans value. What makes her so dangerous is that she appears almost normal in her "hip" glasses and "cute" shoes.
No, merely having that in her possession is hardly evidence that she is a Bircher. (If she is, determining that would take stronger evidence.) That newsletter was mass mailed to a lot of public officials. I myself - and dozens of other members of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists - once received, unsolicited, an abridged booklet version of Rushton's Race, Evolution, and Behavior. The majority of members of the AAPA reject Rushton's scientific racism. And in the case of the booklet, it was more obvious what kind of people were behind it.
Where do you get "racist" from, PhysioProf?
There are a lot of reasons to be opposed to Palin. The top two I can think of: her foreign policy credentials are nonexistent and she is an anti-abortion extremist. But let's try to have a little discernment in determining the problems with Palin.
Where do you get "racist" from, PhysioProf?
Thanks a lot..
thanks for all
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Association of Physical Anthropologists - once received, unsolicited, an abridged booklet version of Rushton's Race, Evolution, and Behavior. The majority of members of the AAPA reject Rushton's scientific racism. And in the case of the booklet, it was more obvious what kind of people were behind it.